Responsibility and Authority
Its a troubling relationship. The relationship between responsibility and authority. We often conceive of them as two sides of one whole, and perhaps in an ideal situation they would be. But often they come in unequal portions. I may be vested with a great deal of responsibility by the constituencies I serve, but if my authority to serve them is restricted by those who employ me or those with whom I work, my progress will be restricted by frustration and sabotage. Conversely, if I am vested with a great deal of responsibility for the growth of young adult ministries by General Convention and the Church Center, but am not granted authority in the dioceses, my work will go unnoticed or under-utilized.
As young adults in an organization largely populated by folks twenty, thirty, and forty years our senior, there seldom comes a time when our responsibility is matched by our authority to enact change. The problem is not that there are not individual authorities willing to grant authority to young adults, but rather, perhaps, that culturally we resist the inexperience of youth.
This is not a value judgment. There are many cultures around the world in which the "elder" is formally held in high esteem simply on account of her age. It is to be noted that many of these cultures also historically have clear processes by which one passes from one life stage to another, and that these processes are often narrower than the life choices presented by our culture.
But in the church, we lack a system by which children are carried into adolescence, adolescents into young adulthood, young adults into adulthood, and adults into older adulthood. The only formalized passing of authority based on faith maturity and community experience occurs with ordination.
We might point to baptism as the moment in which the authority of the Spirit is conferred, but do we really believe that children carry the same community authority that adults do? Or perhaps confirmation, or the canonical 16 year old voting right, or the 18 year old legal entry into adulthood? Theologically we believe in a democracy of voices, but practically and socially we do not live this out. Politically and historically we ration authority for the older members of our community and those with a collar.
The current moment, however, asks something new of us. Our resolutions at General Convention declaring the importance of young adulthood ask something new of us. The necessity of filling empty pews asks something new of us. A generation raised in classrooms filled with team and group based learning ask something new of us. but it is not enough to hand off responsibility to the group, and to those segments we hope to grow. We must along with it relinquish some authority.
My feeling here is not that we should let go of our systems and culture of formalized authority conferral, but that we must examine and question it. How do we raise up and recognize new leaders in our tradition in a way that grants both responsibility and authority while respecting and reflecting our polity? So many young adults are rising up to take strong positions of lay leadership in our church. How do we equip and mark them as vessels of our communal authority? Will we ordain them all? I for one resist this as any sort of stop-gap measure. We must create new systems for sharing and investing authority, or we must return responsibility for the life and future of our church to those who have always had it.
I know I'm raising more questions in this blog than I am answering, but truth be told, we don't have a lot of answers in the current moment. We are at a moment of incredible transition and I feel called to name the pains of our growing so that we can address them, together. I invite your thoughts and responses.
As young adults in an organization largely populated by folks twenty, thirty, and forty years our senior, there seldom comes a time when our responsibility is matched by our authority to enact change. The problem is not that there are not individual authorities willing to grant authority to young adults, but rather, perhaps, that culturally we resist the inexperience of youth.
This is not a value judgment. There are many cultures around the world in which the "elder" is formally held in high esteem simply on account of her age. It is to be noted that many of these cultures also historically have clear processes by which one passes from one life stage to another, and that these processes are often narrower than the life choices presented by our culture.
But in the church, we lack a system by which children are carried into adolescence, adolescents into young adulthood, young adults into adulthood, and adults into older adulthood. The only formalized passing of authority based on faith maturity and community experience occurs with ordination.
We might point to baptism as the moment in which the authority of the Spirit is conferred, but do we really believe that children carry the same community authority that adults do? Or perhaps confirmation, or the canonical 16 year old voting right, or the 18 year old legal entry into adulthood? Theologically we believe in a democracy of voices, but practically and socially we do not live this out. Politically and historically we ration authority for the older members of our community and those with a collar.
The current moment, however, asks something new of us. Our resolutions at General Convention declaring the importance of young adulthood ask something new of us. The necessity of filling empty pews asks something new of us. A generation raised in classrooms filled with team and group based learning ask something new of us. but it is not enough to hand off responsibility to the group, and to those segments we hope to grow. We must along with it relinquish some authority.
My feeling here is not that we should let go of our systems and culture of formalized authority conferral, but that we must examine and question it. How do we raise up and recognize new leaders in our tradition in a way that grants both responsibility and authority while respecting and reflecting our polity? So many young adults are rising up to take strong positions of lay leadership in our church. How do we equip and mark them as vessels of our communal authority? Will we ordain them all? I for one resist this as any sort of stop-gap measure. We must create new systems for sharing and investing authority, or we must return responsibility for the life and future of our church to those who have always had it.
I know I'm raising more questions in this blog than I am answering, but truth be told, we don't have a lot of answers in the current moment. We are at a moment of incredible transition and I feel called to name the pains of our growing so that we can address them, together. I invite your thoughts and responses.
posted by Jason Sierra at 1:51 PM
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